The promotion on Monday officially announced the previously
reported bout, also revealing that the matchup will serve as a
qualifier for Bellator’s fifth-season heavyweight tournament. Only
recent signee Eric
Prindle has been announced for the eight-man bracket -- the
winner of which will earn a shot at reigning champ Cole Konrad
-- but rumored participants include Blagoi
Ivanov, Tony Johnson
Jr., and Ron
Sparks.

Bellator 45, which rounds out the company’s fourth season, airs
live on MTV2 this Saturday, May 21, from the L’Auberge du Lac
Casino Resort Event Center in Lake Charles, La. Topping the bill
will be tournament finals in both the 145- and 205-pound divisions,
with Patricio
Freire facing Daniel
Straus and Richard
Hale facing Christian MPumbu, respectively.

Santos cut his teeth on the vale tudo circuit in his hometown of
Rio de Janeiro, winning an October 2007 Rio Heroes tournament with
three stoppages in a combined 6:51. In 2009, Santos competed in a
one-night tournament in Russia, where he incurred the lone blemish
on his 8-1 record, a submission loss to Alexey
Oleinik. The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Brazilian rebounded with a May
2010 knockout of Geronimo
“Mondragon” dos Santos, and was last seen taking a
disqualification win over Ubiratan Lima in August.

“The footage I’ve seen of Thiago looks dominant,” Bellator Chairman
and CEO Bjorn Rebney stated in a release. “Getting him in the
Bellator cage will be a great way to close out what has already
been a tremendous season while potentially giving fans a glimpse of
what's to come.”

Looking to block Santos’ path to the tournament is Lewis, a
once-beaten 26-year-old who fights out of Silverback MMA in
Houston. In little more than one year as a professional, the “Black
Beast” has compiled a 4-1 record, with all four wins coming by way
of stoppage.

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